Prince Andrew has been served sexual assault papers in the United States.
Virginia Giuffre, née Roberts, who has accused the prince of sexual assault, had her lawyers serve him the papers after she claims that she was forced to have sex with him by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, NBC News reports.
The civil lawsuit was sent to the prince's Los Angeles-based lawyer, Andrew Brettler, by email and FedEx in a filing with the US District Court in Manhattan. As of Monday (September 20), both documents had been received.
The Duke of York now has 21 days to respond under federal law or he puts himself at risk of a default judgment.
Giuffre's lawyers said that they had previously served the prince the papers in the UK as well.
Prince Andrew and his lawyers have denied all claims made by Giuffre, with the prince stating that he has no recollection of ever meeting her in a bombshell interview with Newsnight.
Watch the sensational interview below:The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages from the prince, and he has not yet been charged with any crimes.
Giuffre, who was just 17 when the alleged assault took place, claims she was recruited into Epstein's sex-trafficking ring by his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently awaiting trial for her actions.
As per The Sun, Giuffre claims that she was sexually abused by Prince Andrew on three occasions: once in New York City, once in London at Maxwell's home, and once on Epstein's private island, known as Little St. James, in the US Virgin Islands.
Per USA Today, a process server has attested that they delivered the lawsuit to a police officer at Prince Andrew's residence - the Royal Lodge in Windsor, England - on August 27.
Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies, told The Telegraph about why it was important to serve Prince Andrew papers in both the US and UK. "We present him with a copy of the complaint in a formal way," he explained. "Because he is a foreign citizen, we have to do this under the Hague Convention."
